Every household has one or more ironing board units for ironing clothes and other household fabric items. The standard ironing board unit today is a free-standing model having scissor legs. When the legs are folded under the board, the ironing board unit may be stored in a closet, in the corner of a utility room or the like.
A second type of ironing board unit has found utility in the household and manufacturers have enjoyed reasonably good marketing success with it. This unit is mounted in a recess of a wall, or in a standard swinging door. One of the main advantages is that the wall mounted unit may be retracted into a stowed position and even during use does not interfere with the floor space below. By far, the most popular of these units utilizing a standard size ironing board is of the type shown in the Worley, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 1,868,185. This type of unit includes a full sized cabinet that is recessed into a standard wall between adjoining studs. In use, the door of the unit is opened and the ironing board folds down into a substantially horizontal position for ironing. Because of the full cabinet required and the need for a carpenter for installation, the cost of this type of unit is well above the cost of a standard floor mounted ironing board. Furthermore, many units of this style are fabricated of expensive wood work and trim, making the cost of a single unit even greater.
A similar approach is a permanently mounted ironing board unit adapted for fitting within a recess of a standard swinging door. The patent to Triller U.S. Pat. No. 1,766,154 is illustrative of this prior approach. The cost involved here also prevents this unit from being competitive with a standard, floor mounted ironing board. The requirement for heavy wooden components results in a door that is undesirably heavy and thus, uncomfortable to use.
The patent to Avidiya U.S. Pat. No. 3,170,417 represents an attempt to alleviate part of the weight problem but results in a door that has an open space when the ironing board is in the operative position. Also, in the unit of the type shown in Avidiya, the components are clearly not sturdy causing undesirable instability during your use and unsatisfactory service life. In a similar fashion, the Rasmussen U.S. Pat. No. 2,386,139 shows a downsized unit that is door mounted that can be used only for the lightest pressing jobs. The board interferes with normal use of the door and requires removal for storage against a wall or the like when not in use.
As a result of these shortcomings of the prior art, a need is identified for a full-sized ironing board unit for door mounting, but without the high cost attributable to wall/door mounted units of the prior art. In this specific targeted market area, there is no ironing board unit that has heretofore been developed.